Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

SZALMA IVETT / SZEL BERNADETT
However, when examining how people would
choose between tax decreases and a drop in
social services and benefits or a tax increase and
spending more on social measures, we see that
the majority (63.5%) would prefer the former
(Table 5). This result shows that expectations
for social services exist, but when it comes
to the individual budget, citizens are careful
about how resources should be allocated.
Table 5. Government should decrease taxes and spend less on social services and benefits
Frequency
Valid Percent
Disagree 10768 36.5
Agree 18726 63.5
Total 29494 100.0
Missing 3911
Total 33405
1.2. The efficiency of social measures
Respondents were asked to judge to what
extent they agree with the following statements.
Social services and benefits in the respondent’s
county:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
place too great a strain on the economy.
prevent widespread poverty.
lead to a more equal society.
encourage people from other countries to
come and live here.
cost businesses too much in taxes and
charges.
Agreement with the first, fourth and fifth
statements reflects a conservative attitude,
while agreement with the second, third and
sixth statements indicates that the respondent
is closer to a social approach.
Based on Table 6, we can see that the majority
of respondents – 39.5 percent – disagree
with the statement that social services and
benefits in the respondent’s county place too
great a strain on the economy. One third of
respondents agree with this statement and
more than one quarter of the sample would
not give an exact answer.
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6.
make it easier for people to combine work
and family life.